


Attack in the Forest Perilous

by RobberBaroness



Series: Darkest Timeline [6]
Category: Arthurian Mythology
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-13
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:07:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22246069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RobberBaroness/pseuds/RobberBaroness
Summary: They've escaped the castle, but our heroes aren't out of danger quite yet.
Relationships: Guinevere/Arthur Pendragon
Series: Darkest Timeline [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1598476
Comments: 1
Kudos: 12





	Attack in the Forest Perilous

“If we can make it through the forest,” Lynette said, “we’ll reach the old family castle. I wish we could try for Orkney before Mordred has his men crawling all over the islands, but for the time being we’re stuck in this southern hell. Gareth and I managed the trip through here once. Of course,” she admitted, “there was no one hunting for us except for the ridiculous number of colorfully dressed robber knights we encountered along the way. He made them swear fealty to you when he beat them, and I’d be willing to wager they’ve changed allegiances to Mordred by now. And I’d further wager those same men who know the forest would be the ones they’ll send out for us. So in summation, we might make it through the forest. If we’re lucky.”

“Lynette, please. You’re frightening everyone for no good reason,” said Lyonors. Her voice was gentle and understanding, even as she chided her sister, and it was clear that the two had grown up together. All three women of Castle Perilous shared the same brunette hair and green eyes, and though Lyonors was generally considered the loveliest among them, it was a close enough competition that most who cared to discuss it declared it a matter of taste. Now their faces were weary and their hair tangled, but neither Lynette nor Lyonors showed any signs of ceasing to argue with each other.

“I’m not trying to frighten anyone, I’m simply being honest about our chances. They’re better than if we’d stayed in Camelot, that’s for certain. But if the Red Knight of the Red Lands comes after us again, we’ll have made a perfect circle.”

“Enough.” Lynette fell silent at her King’s command. “Whose castle is that on the horizon?” Arthur asked. “It cannot be our destination already.”

“No, it isn’t,” Lynette responded. “Odd. I don’t recall ever having seen it before. Either I have a bad memory or it has appeared out of nowhere, and honestly, either is possible.”

“Perhaps they’ll provide us with shelter for the evening. I’ll ride ahead and ask; the rest of you, stay hidden until we know it’s safe.”

“No!” said Guinevere. “Don’t you see? You’d be in the greatest danger of any of us. If their allegiance is to Mordred, they’ll kill you on the spot!”

“I’m not sending any of the women under my protection into peril, least of all you.”

“But-”

“We’ll ask for help,” said Lynette. “Guinevere’s right, Your Majesty. I appreciate your desire to protect us, but until we reach allies we cannot risk losing you.” She looked back at her kinswomen. “Oh, alright. I’ll ask for help. You two can watch me from a distance, and if I seem to be in danger, run back and tell Their Majesties. Being locked up in one castle can’t be much worse than being locked up in another.”

“Lynette-”

“If our King wants the chance for more heroics, he can rescue me afterwards. In the meantime, stay alive.”

Lynette had driven her horse onward before Arthur had a chance to argue further. He sighed, regretting that he had not put up more of an argument, but at the same time thankful that he had not had to leave Guinevere alone for another moment.

“We’ll rest for a moment. Come, my love.”

They dismounted from Arthur’s horse, and he offered her a drink from his water skien. Guinevere sat down, pushing her back against a sturdy tree, and her husband sat down beside her.

“You’re a long way from your knights now, aren’t you, Your Majesties!”

Arthur and Guinevere were not alone in the clearing after all. Men stepped out from behind trees and rocks- Arthur counted ten in total. This was no gang of forest-dwelling outlaws, as told by their address to the King and Queen, but soldiers of the new regime. Mordred’s men had tracked them after all. They stood, but the odds looked no better.

They were surrounded. It was impossible to tell if they were the ‘colorfully dressed robber knights’ Lynette had been worried about. All wore the drab brown of the forest- presumably, Mordred had no indulgence for personal style in his groups of mercenaries. Slowly and deliberately as Guinevere stepped back a distance, and keeping an eye on the circle around them, Arthur drew Excalibur.

Arthur was not new to battles against bad odds. He’d been fighting in them since the age of sixteen, and unlike Guinevere whose looks seemed to be frozen in eternal youth (or at least in her thirties), he was showing his age with streaks of grey through his light hair. But he was no less deft with a sword than he had ever been, and Excalibur was no ordinary sword. The men may have thought themselves ready for the blinding flash of light when it was drawn- Mordred had doubtlessly warned his men about that- but no man could be truly prepared for it. Only Arthur could withstand the glare without averting his eyes. Even Guinevere pressed her hands over her eyes at the pain of the flash. In the past, he had sometimes wondered why such an enchantment was not considered dishonorable; no he had no time now for thoughts of honor.

Where there had been ten men, Arthur brought his sword down in an overhead swing and suddenly there were nine- another strike and there were eight. Every knight knew that winning a battle was about armor rather than swords, but in this regard as well, Excalibur was no ordinary sword. The sword could cleave through anything. Mordred’s knights might as well have been naked as far as Excalibur cared.

Before long, Arthur was facing a group of six, and each attack drew him forward into the forest. But there had always been more than one party of knights, and as Arthur was drawn forward, Guinevere found herself seized by another two who had stepped out from the forest- one pair of hands seized her hair, the other her arms.

Guinevere screamed as the men grabbed her. For one moment, Arthur looked away from the battle towards her- and that moment was enough. There was a deep slice to his right arm and Excalibur fell, sprayed red with its master’s blood. Another swing of a sword came directly across his throat. Guinvere’s shrieking grew even louder as he crashed to the ground.

“He wants them both,” said one of the knights. “The sword and the lady.” Arthur struggled to maintain consciousness, but it was a losing battle; he could just barely manage to see Guinevere struggle with her abductors, kicking and scratching with no thought towards her own life. Excalibur lay on the ground just beyond his reach, and it dimmed like a dying ember away from his grasp. The last thing Arthur heard before the world went dark around him was Guinevere crying his name.

***

“They’re here- oh god. I can’t leave anyone alone for a moment, can I?”

Lynette led Morgan to the clearing where Arthur’s dying body lay. She knelt down beside her king while the lady of the nearby castle paced around them both.

“I don’t suppose you had anything to do with this,” Lynette asked, “or with Queen Guinevere being missing?”

“If I’d had anything to do with it, I wouldn’t have left him alive. He’ll survive if we do everything properly and stop the bleeding. Do something about that while I work.”

Lynette pressed her cloak against Arthur’s bleeding throat, and directed Lyonors and Laurel to look for any yarrow growing in the woods. Morgan muttered in a language Lynette could not quite make out, and she felt a strange chill come over her body. Looking around, the chill went through the whole clearing- flowers wilted and leaves grew brown, the life of the land giving itself under command.

Arthur’s breathing grew less shallow, and the bleeding slowed.

“Blast,” Morgan muttered. “If I’d known this would happen years ago, I could have saved us all a great deal of trouble. But no. Of all my brother’s things, I had to have destroyed that damnable sheath.”


End file.
